Under the Gun" opens with a bang and ends far too soon — long before the smoke even clears.

"Before this film is over, 22 people in America will be shot. Six will die," is the first fact in this riveting film, Katie Couric narrates.

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In terms of the gun issue, this movie (May 15, 8 p.m. on Epix) is rare: it shows both sides. Some people on screen explain why they never leave home unarmed. Others talk about burying their children who were shot.

Couric, who also executive produced, talked with the Daily News about why she spent two years making the movie.

Former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Arizona) was shot in the head while giving a speech in a market parking lot near Tuscon. Shot in the head, she had a long, arduous recovery. (EPIX)

What prompted you to tackle the gun issue?

For me the massacre at Sandy Hook was really a pivotal moment. The fact that nothing got done (as fars as a law) just reinforced my resolve to examine this issue. When I saw that 90% of American people favor uniform background checks, I could not understand the disconnect with Congress.

Which stories haunt you?

Lonnie Phillips is a gun owner, a Republican and a grieving father. His daughter, Jessica Redfield Ghawi, was among those slain in the Aurora, Colo., shootings at a movie theater. (EPIX)

Which don't haunt me? I watched it last night probably for the 57th time and I cried for these families because every time I see it my heart breaks. Having said that I don't want people to feel it is relentlessly sad.

You see a grassroots movement coalescing and presenting an alternative point of view that is not that alternative when you consider 74% of NRA members support universal background checks.

What do you want the takeaway to be?

Journalist Katie Couric executive produces and narrates “Under the Gun,” a documentary that examines all sides of gun control. (EPIX)

Everybody has a voice when it comes to this issue. They are not powerless. There's a complacency that this is an intractable issue.

So it doesn't feel hopeless?

I think with the movements you see things doubling up from the ground up.

Shannon Watts (founder of the activist group Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense), when you see someone like that who inspires millions of Americans ... and when you see gun owners say I don't see why background checks would be a problem — (it's food for thought).

There are a lot of strong feelings on the part of gun owners who are nervous and afraid and fearful and we wanted to hear from them, too.